Maharashtra NEET UG 2026 stray vacancy rounds begin: fill choices by 18 October

In short

Candidates must submit fresh preferences for the first online stray vacancy round for MBBS and BDS courses by October 18, 2026, until 11:59 PM.
The seat allotment results for Round 1 will be declared on October 19, 2026.
Physical joining with original documents and fees for Round 1 is scheduled for October 20–21, 2026, until 5:30 PM.
The final joining deadline for all stray vacancy rounds, as per the Medical Counselling Committee, is October 26, 2026.
Eligible candidates are those who qualified NEET-UG 2026, registered for the state admission process, and did not secure a seat through CAP Round 3.

The State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell, Maharashtra, on October 16, 2026, announced a revised schedule for online stray vacancy admission rounds for MBBS and BDS courses for the academic year 2026-27. This announcement follows the completion of three rounds of the Centralised Admission Process (CAP) and aims to fill remaining vacant seats across government, municipal corporation, government-aided, private unaided, and minority colleges in Maharashtra.

The stray vacancy rounds are crucial for filling seats that remained unoccupied after the initial counselling phases. In the first two rounds of centralised Maharashtra NEET UG counselling, 17,266 students secured admission to MBBS and BDS courses. Specifically, 8,001 students took admission in Round 1, and 9,265 students joined colleges in Round 2. Round 3 provided an opportunity for admission to 11,340 candidates, with its process concluding on October 14, 2026.

Stray Vacancy Round 1 Schedule and Choice Filling

The CET Cell has published the schedule for Online Stray Vacancy Round 1 for MBBS and BDS courses under Group A. Candidates are required to submit fresh preferences for this round. Choices from previous rounds will be considered invalid, necessitating new submissions for each stray vacancy round. The deadline for choice filling for Round 1 is October 18, 2026, until 11:59 PM.

Following the choice filling, the seat allotment results for Round 1 will be declared on October 19, 2026. Candidates who are allotted seats must complete their admission formalities, including physical joining with original documents and payment of prescribed fees, between October 20 and 21, 2026, until 5:30 PM. Fees can be paid via demand draft (DD), NEFT, or RTGS. The last date to resign from an allotted seat without penalty for Round 1 is October 21, 2026, until 5:30 PM. Cancellations after this deadline are subject to penalty provisions detailed in the Information Brochure.

Subsequent Stray Vacancy Rounds and Final Deadlines

The schedule for subsequent stray vacancy rounds has also been released. Round 2 will see its seat matrix display and choice filling from October 21–22, 2026, until 11:00 AM, with the selection list published on October 22, 2026. Physical joining for Round 2 is from October 23–24, 2026, until 5:30 PM. Round 3’s seat matrix display and choice filling will occur from October 24–25, 2026, until 11:00 AM, with the selection list published on October 25, 2026. Physical joining for Round 3 is scheduled for October 26, 2026. The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has set October 26, 2026, as the final joining deadline.

S. No.	Activity	Date and time
1	Publication of Round 1 seat matrix	October 16, 2026
2	Round 1 choice filling (fresh choices mandatory)	October 17–18, 2026, until 11:59 PM
3	Round 1 selection list	October 19, 2026
4	Round 1 physical joining with original documents and fees	October 20–21, 2026, until 5:30 PM
5	Last date to resign without penalty	October 21, 2026, until 5:30 PM
6	Round 2 seat matrix display and choice filling	October 21–22, 2026, until 11:00 AM
7	Round 2 selection list	October 22, 2026
8	Round 2 physical joining with original documents and fees	October 23–24, 2026, until 5:30 PM
9	Round 3 seat matrix display and choice filling	October 24–25, 2026, until 11:00 AM
10	Round 3 selection list	October 25, 2026
11	Round 3 physical joining with original documents and fees	October 26, 2026
12	Final joining deadline as per MCC	October 26, 2026

Eligibility Criteria and Exclusions

Eligible candidates for these stray vacancy rounds are those who qualified NEET-UG 2026, registered for the state admission process, and submitted preferences earlier but did not receive a seat allotment through CAP Round 3. Fresh registration will not be permitted for these rounds. Candidates who secured and retained seats through state counselling in Round 1 or Round 2 up to Round 3, or received an allotment in Round 3, are ineligible. Similarly, candidates who secured and retained seats through All India Quota (AIQ) counselling up to Round 3 are also excluded.

In addition, candidates who are allotted seats in Online Stray Vacancy Round 1, including under AIQ counselling, cannot participate in subsequent stray vacancy rounds. The CET Cell has advised candidates to select only those colleges where they are prepared to accept admission. All updates and detailed information are available on the official website, mahacet.org.

Nishit Kumar is a senior EdTech industry leader with over a decade of experience in building and scaling education platforms, shaping their product, content, and growth strategy. At FindMyCollege, Nishit oversees content and editorial strategy, guiding topic selection and content frameworks to ensure accuracy, relevance, and student-first value across the website.

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